MetroWest Daily News, MA
Aug 22 2007

ADL opinion on Armenian Genocide called ‘good news’

By Peter Reuell/Daily News Staff
GHS
Wed Aug 22, 2007, 10:00 AM EDT

Local rabbis and Jewish community leaders yesterday applauded the
national Anti-Defamation League’s acknowledgement of the World War
I-era Armenian Genocide, but said the reversal of its previous stance
raises as many questions as it answers.

The hope by many is that the acknowledgment, released yesterday
afternoon on the ADL’s Web site, will defuse a brewing controversy
that led to the firing of ADL New England Director Andrew Tarsy and
the resignation of several local board members.

"I think that’s very good news," Patty Jacobson, vice president of
marketing at the Combined Jewish Philanthropies, said of the
organization’s statement. "I think language matters and is very
important, and I’m very glad to see it happen."

The controversy that spurred the ADL to change its position began
last week, when Watertown officials voted to pull out of the ADL’s
"No Place for Hate" education program, citing the organization’s
refusal to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The New York-based
organization had called the deaths of up 1.5 million Armenians at the
hands of Muslim Turks between 1915 and 1923 an atrocity, but stopped
short of saying it was genocide – a planned extermination of the
Christian Armenian minority.

Watertown’s Armenian population is estimated at about 8,000.

Following the vote, Tarsy described what happened to the Armenians in
the time around the First World War as a genocide. His break with the
national ADL leaders led to his firing, which prompted at least two
New England board members to resign in protest.

But while the national organization’s reversal on the genocide seems
to lay one issue to rest, the question of Tarsy’s future with the ADL
remains.

It is a question many local Jewish leaders found tough to answer.

"I have the utmost in respect for our regional officers of the ADL
and for Andy personally," said Rabbi David Widzer of Franklin’s
Temple Etz Chaim. "I don’t know that I really have a comment on what
happens next. The national ADL and the regional ADL and Andy have
some potential difficult conversations to have or processes to work
through."

Harold Kushner, rabbi laureate of Temple Israel in Natick, yesterday
said he always supported recognizing the Armenian Genocide, and
believes the ADL should welcome Tarsy back to the fold.

"If I were them, I would take him back," he said. "How one does this
and saves face, I don’t know, but I would take him back.

"When you are an organization that stands for a moral cause, it is
never a mistake to do the morally right thing."

For area Armenians, the hope is that finally acknowledging the
genocide can lead to healing.

"It did happen, and it unfortunately has festered and remained
unrecognized for these 90 years," said Martin Deranian, a Worcester
dentist. "I believe the time has come for society to bring this to
attention. From a moral, historical point of view, it’s highly
appropriate" to recognize it.

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-4th, a co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide
bill, said he was disappointed with ADL National Director Abraham
Foxman’s previous position.

"I think they made a mistake," Frank said. "I am very disappointed
with the national ADL, and I am proud of New England’s reaction."

The House resolution calls on the president to ensure that U.S.
foreign policy "reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity
concerning issues related to … genocide documented in the United
States record relating to the Armenian Genocide."

Fellow House member Rep. Edward Markey, D-6th, a co-sponsor on the
House resolution, said he believed the ADL had "taken a substantive
and significant step today."

"Simply put, ADL’s decision to recognize the reality of the Armenian
Genocide reflects the best traditions of the organization and its
charter," Markey said.

Following Tarsy’s firing, Jacobson said she hopes the ADL’s reversal
will bring some healing to the organization.

"Obviously, all of us here feel that the change in the position …
is the right decision for the national ADL to take," she said.
"There’s lots of work to do and as a community we need to focus on
how best to do that work and how best to move forward.

"I think this whole situation is a real blow to the regional ADL,"
she said. "I think regardless of who leads the regional ADL going
forward, there’s going to be some serious fence mending that needs to
take place."

As troubling as the controversy has been, though, Widzer takes some
comfort in the time of year.

"Whatever the ultimate resolution that comes, I am mindful that this
season of the year on the Jewish calendar (High Holy Days) is the
time of teshuvah," he said. "The fancy, five-dollar word for that is
repentance. But it’s more the season of the year where we can look
back on what, in the past year, hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to
and what are the steps we can take to correct it.

"I can’t speak to what any of the interested parties would do, but
that’s the season of the year we find ourselves in. I would hope some
sort of reconciliation or being able to move forward amicably would
happen."

(Peter Reuell can be reached at 508-626-4428, or at preuell@cnc.com.)

(Material from the Associated Press was used in this report)